Industries · Startups
Compliance sized for startup runway.
Your first enterprise deal shouldn't die in security review, and your CTO shouldn't spend a quarter building a compliance program alone. We do the heavy lifting, sized to how startups actually operate.
We build for the stage you're at.
The startup patterns we see every week, honestly stated.
- A 4–20 person team where the CTO is also the security officer, the IT admin, and the person answering questionnaires
- The first enterprise prospect just sent a 200-question security review — and the deal is waiting on it
- Infrastructure is modern (one cloud, SSO-able tools) but nothing is written down or evidenced
- Runway math matters: every compliance dollar and engineering hour needs to move a deal
What makes the program startup-shaped.
- Scope sized to a seed/Series A reality — no enterprise GRC theater, nothing included just to look thorough
- Published starting prices and milestone billing, so the cost is knowable before you commit
- Evidence collection planned around the stack you already run (cloud, GitHub, Google Workspace/Okta, Linear/Jira)
- A path that starts where your deals need it: SOC 2 first, HIPAA first, or both together
- Founder time protected: a few focused hours per week from one owner, not a team-wide project
Pick the path your deals demand.
Enterprise deals waiting → SOC 2
A Type 1 report to unblock near-term deals, with the Type 2 observation window starting immediately after — SOC 2 Readiness from $9,500.
Healthcare customers → HIPAA
A documented program that lets you sign BAAs truthfully — HIPAA Foundations from $4,500.
Both at once → combined program
One control library, gaps fixed once, evidence reused — Healthcare Trust Launch from $14,500.
Most-chosen startup package.
SOC 2 Readiness
B2B SaaS companies that need a SOC 2 Type 1 or Type 2 report to close customers.
$9,500 implementation
+ from $750/month ongoing
Plus the independent CPA audit fee, quoted separately by the audit firm.
Target: 6–12 weeks
Timelines are targets, for a reasonably mature startup; the CPA audit and report timeline is separate.
Included
- Scope workshop and system boundary definition
- Trust Services Criteria selection
- Readiness / gap assessment
- Control matrix and ownership assignments
- Risk assessment and risk register
- Policy customization and approval workflow
- Asset, vendor, personnel, and access inventories
- + 12 more — see full inclusions
Touching PHI? Healthcare startups usually need the combined program instead.
Startup FAQ
When is the right time for a startup to start compliance?
The honest trigger is your pipeline: the first enterprise prospect or healthcare customer who asks for a SOC 2 report or a BAA. Starting about a quarter before you expect that ask is ideal — controls and evidence take weeks to build, and a Type 2 observation window takes months. Starting after the ask means the deal waits on you.
We're pre-revenue. Is this overkill?
Sometimes, and we'll say so. If no customer is asking yet and you don't touch PHI, the right move may be a handful of free foundations — MFA, SSO, written baseline policies — and a plan for later. The readiness assessment gives you that read in five minutes; a paid program can wait until it buys you something.
Which framework first — SOC 2 or HIPAA?
Follow the demand. Selling into healthcare with PHI in your product means HIPAA is a legal obligation and the BAA is the blocker — start there or do both together. Selling to general enterprises means SOC 2 first. Doing both against one control library is cheaper than sequencing them a year apart.
Can't we just buy a compliance platform and do it ourselves?
Some teams do, successfully. The platform flags gaps; someone still has to make decisions, write real policies, fix the gaps, and produce auditor-grade evidence — commonly 100+ founder-and-engineer hours for a first SOC 2. If you already run Vanta or Drata, we work inside it and take that load; if you don't, you may not need it at all at this size.
What does it cost at startup scale?
Published starting prices: SOC 2 Readiness from $9,500, HIPAA Foundations from $4,500, both together from $14,500 — plus the independent CPA firm's examination fee, always quoted separately. Published prices cover up to 50 employees and one production environment, which fits most startups through Series A. See pricing for everything included.
Don't let security review eat your first big deal.
Contact us — we'll tell you what your stage actually needs, and what can wait.